Morality and Art during the Classical Era

 

    Classical Art, or Classicism, is artwork that draws inspiration from ancient Roman or ancient Greek culture, architecture, literature, and Art. During the Classical era, human achievement thrived through the growth of the middle class, music, and scientific discoveries. It was a period of aristocrats and monarchs filled with fun and lavish styles and a profound change of customs of ways of Art when the Economic Revolution hit. In the early times of the classical era, the upper class greatly influenced the Classical Era's Art, especially the Rococo style. The famous artists of the classical period, like François Boucher and Jean-Antoine Watteau, worked for the monarch and aristocrats that helped promote the Rococo painting style. In the Rococo style of painting, you can see soft colors and decorative styles of dresses. The Rococo style of painting is more mischievous and more pragmatic. However, compared to the previous era, it is not overdramatic but still has a bit of baroque style left in them because of the light and dark colors.

 

                   François Boucher, Madame de Pompadour 1759, oil on canvas, The Wallace location, London 

    This painting is a portrait of Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, commonly known as Madame de Pompadour. It was made by François Boucher in 1759. Boucher has a close relationship with her until her death. She is one of the most powerful and influential people in the 1700s who inspired the Rococo style painting. She is the mistress of the late king John Louie the XV. During his reign, he kept Madame de Pompadour as his mistress. So, she had a place in court and upheld the fine artworks during her time. She is into love and pleasure art which inspired Rococo-style paintings. She is wearing a fancy dress and gazing blankly into the distance. This painting focuses on the woman seated with her exceptionally sophisticated dress and hairstyle, contrasting the plain dark background. I like how decorative her dress is in this image, especially the brush strokes on the laces. The laces gave a texture to this piece, and I like how he used great contrast of dark and light colors to emphasize Madame de Pompadour in the painting. Her skin and the elegant dress were illuminated in this piece. Most Rococo-style paintings depict the aristocrats' extravagant life and leisure time activities. You can see that the morals changed from the Baroque painting to the Rococo style because they are not theatrical but have more sense of lightness.

                   Jean-Honoré Fragonard, 1767, The Swing, oil on canvas, The Wallace Collection, London 

    One of the great examples of the Rococo style painting is "The Swing" made by Fragonard. This is a mischievous painting of a girl in a pink dress trying to impress the guy underneath her by showing off what's under her skirt. Fragonard's images depicting erotic and fun scenes are famous among upper-class buyers. (Bruckbaue) The morals around the time of the aristocrats and monarchs were naughty and fun. Hence the king kept Madame de Pompadour in the court as his mistress, showing that infidelity is still tolerable due to the high quality of life that they can do whatever pleases them. The theme here is sensual, but the detail of the curve lines and the choice of pastel colors are impressive. There are plenty of stories and intrigue surrounding the painting; however, The Swing ultimately revels in fun, fantasy, and a continual source of creative inspiration and visual enjoyment.

 

            Jacques-Louis David, Oath of the Horatii, 1784, oil on canvas, Louvre Museum, Paris

    In the Classical era, two known painting styles differ from each other: Rococo and Neoclassicism. The values and culture helped shift the Rococo painting style to the Neoclassical style because of the French and American Revolutions. You can see in the painting above that there is a profound change in personality and how people dressed in the Neoclassic style of paintings. It is more serious compared to the Rococo style of painting. Roman towns were rediscovered, and that inspired the paintings of the Neoclassic style. Similarly, Rococo uses light pastels, ivory, white, and gold, and frequently used mirrors to enhance the sense of open space. Neoclassical painting, like the painting above is marked by using light tones, less color, straight and horizontal lines, and concise forms.

    All three paintings have contributed to a great past and history of depicting Art in the Classical era. I wouldn't want to have it hung in my home because it can have a sensual meaning or a story behind it. They are best displayed in a museum where people can differentiate the types of painting styles of Art in different eras, and people can reflect because of the emotions shown in these paintings.

 Work cited

Gersh-Nesic, Beth. “Neoclassicism, an Introduction.” Smarthistory, 2016, https://smarthistory.org/neoclassicism-an-introduction/.

“Madame De Pompadour.” Madame De Pompadour | Art UK, https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/madame-de-pompadour-209442.

Bruckbaue, Ashley. “Fragonard, the Swing (Article) | Rococo.” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/renaissance-reformation/rococo-neoclassicism/rococo/a/fragonard-the-swing.